EDPA celebrates Alabama HBCU Innovation Internship graduates with Day of Development

The Economic Development Partnership of Alabama (EDPA) graduated the third cohort of the HBCU Innovation Internship Program. The event, held at Innovation Depot in downtown Birmingham, was not one of pomp and circumstance but instead was a professional development opportunity for the graduating participants, as well as members of the incoming fourth cohort. Students had the opportunity to sharpen their networking and interview skills with group and one-on-one talks with professionals from Alabama Power and other area businesses and organizations.

Graduating participants made presentations sharing highlights of their internship experience. For the second half of the day, the incoming fourth cohort had the chance to put their interview skills to the test as they met with potential employers, seeking a match for their internship.

Darryl Young, who works in Workforce Development at Alabama Power, helped recruit professionals for the interview workshop and facilitated the event.

“It takes a village,” Young said. “We all had someone to help us along the way, so it’s only right to pay it forward.”

Not just an internship

The HBCU Innovation Internship Program by the EDPA is designed to diversify the pipeline of Alabama tech talent and create opportunities for underserved populations in the tech sector. The 12-week program, which is supported by the Appalachian Regional Commission, Coca-Cola United and Innovate Alabama, provides students with hands-on work experience through a paid, project-based internship and supplementary professional development. The program partners with eight Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in Alabama:

“Alabama ranks pretty low on the scale of 50 states for Black entrepreneurs and startup companies,” said Carolyn Williams, director of the HBCU Innovation Internship. “This program was created to introduce students to what innovation looks like in the state of Alabama and create that network and that environment for students to get jobs with those companies and to learn what it looks like for them to have their own companies.”

The HBCU Innovation Internship program aims to address the challenges young Black professionals face while providing opportunities with a variety of Alabama-based tech startups, accelerators and incubators. The long-term goal is that participating students will pursue careers in innovation in Alabama.

Throughout the course of the internships, students also participate in professional development workshops like the interview skills training offered at the April 4 event.

“A lot of students have technical skills, but they’re trying to figure out what soft skills look like,” Williams said. “Those soft skills are what keep you in the room, or what help you to get into new rooms. So, we’re working to develop that.”

Professional development workshops cover both technical and soft skills. For example, students have learned how to better utilize programs such as Canva and Microsoft Excel. They’ve learned about finances and budgeting. But they’ve also worked on communication and presentation skills.

“We don’t want it to just be an internship,” Williams said. “We want it to be an experience.”

Lessons learned

Instead of walking across a stage to get a certificate, graduation for the HBCU Innovation Internship Program participants is yet another opportunity for professional development. Graduates are charged with giving brief presentations about their intern experience, sharing the details of their project, the company they worked for and the skills they acquired along the way.

Believe it or not, Kristin Taylor can make drywall interesting. Taylor is a business administration major at Talladega College and has been part of the HBCU Innovation Internship Program for two cohorts, first as an intern with the Alabama Business Intelligence Center and later with the Birmingham-Jefferson Port Authority. Her latest internship project centered on supply chain, specifically of drywall, also known as gypsum, which Taylor said is her “new favorite word.”

Her project explored ways to increase shipments of gypsum through the Birmingham Port, which would increase employment opportunities for the area.

“I believe in using my degree to empower smaller communities,” Taylor said.

Alexandria Trammer, a marketing student at Alabama State University, said the opportunity to present about her internship with Alabama Collective was a highlight of her experience with the program, as was the mentorship she received from program director Carolyn Williams.

“Just to have her guidance and wisdom has been something that I feel like is going to be beneficial to me in the long run, and I look forward to continuing to nurture that network and that connection.”

Isaac Anokye said a highlight of his internship with TechBirmingham and his time with the HBCU Innovation Internship program was learning about different companies.

“I got to learn more about a lot of companies here in Alabama in innovation that I didn’t know existed,” he said. “It gave me exposure and let me know that I have a lot of options.”

Nurturing future leaders

Darryl Young said he views helping with the HBCU Innovation Internship program as an investment in the future.

“At an HBCU, you learn how to hustle, how to grind and how to survive, but you also get lots of nurturing,” Young said. “When you enter the workforce, that nurturing part comes out of the equation.”

Young selected professionals for the mock interviews who he thought would give students the nurturing they need but who would also help prepare them for life beyond the classroom — professionals like Quinton Land, a fleet engineer with Alabama Power.

“Somebody helped me get to where I needed to be while I was in college, so I’m more than willing to put in time giving back to students,” said Land, who graduated from Alabama A&M.

Marsha Morgan, a project manager with the Alabama Power Foundation and a graduate of Tennessee State University, was honored to be asked to help with the mock interviews.

“I am a proud HBCU graduate, so anytime I have an opportunity to engage with our students, I cherish it,” she said. “It’s so important for me as a professional to help mold and shape the next generation of HBCU graduates.”

Adrienne Fowler Payne, administrative director for The Comprehensive Urban Underserved and Rural Experience (CU²RE) program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Heersink School of Medicine, said the April 4 workshop was about much more than practice interviews.

“Building connections and relationships for these students as they continue their education or career pursuits is important,” Payne said, adding that her interactions with students sparked intriguing conversations about how tech and healthcare can intersect to address health disparities and health equity.

Angele Monconduit, director of Corporate Real Estate at Alabama Power, said participating in the interview workshop made her hopeful for the future.

“I’m so impressed by the talent and ingenuity that these students have,” she said. “It’s a testament to the work that the HBCUs are doing. The students are well prepared, innovative and creative. I am excited about where things are headed for them and for the world.”